Sands Event Center

This is really a lousy place to see a show. It really proves that it is the artists that matter. If you can book great acts, the rest is gravy. If you know places like the Orpheum in Boston, you know what I mean. This is no State Theatre or Musikfest Café.
First the food, horrible. $ 10 cheesesteaks from that crappy chain Chickie & Petes. The food is reheated by high school kids. So, you get the double whammy of terrible quality plus high price. Decent drink selection but those are expensive too. No surprise there.
The seating really stinks. Plastic seats, not tiered. Just hope that a local basketball team is not sitting in front of you. There is seating on a higher level that is left and right of the stage. That is a bit better … So grab a seat at the sides if at possible. I say again. The only places with worse seating are those old 1890s era places where the seats are too small and too cramped.
The place is also ugly … All black. It is really an events center and not a theater so I guess it is what it is.
So, come to see artists you like but be prepared to not be impressed with the venue.

I have mixed feelings about the Sands Event Center. On one hand, the acoustics were great and I had an incredible concert experience. On the other hand, some of the staff lacked a common sense gene.
Prior to the recent Counting Crows show, there was a lot of uncertainty on how they would let the crowd into the venue when the doors open. Is everyone going in at the same time? Does VIP get the early entry they paid for? None of the staff seemed to know. So everyone stood around by the roped off tours in a cluster-​eff waiting. Since there was no organization, I stood against the rope to the far right. I didn’t realize that’s where staff with access to the venue would need to come in and out. No biggie. I moved when most of them politely said excuse me. One staff member didn’t say anything and just taped me to move. How rude! So between the uncertainty and rude staff I’m knocking off a star. (Another star off for this venue not being a 5-​star venue to start with.)
The venue itself was fine. The view from the rail was pretty sweet with only a small area for photographers in between us and the stage. As I mentioned earlier, the acoustics were great.
The bathrooms were back on the outside of the venue. That’s a really far hike if you are trying to quickly get back to your spot.
The food options weren’t great– I’m not going to eat something heavy (like anything from Chickie & Pete’s) prior to a standing room only show. The drinks were relatively inexpensive for concert standards. Single cups of wine were $ 6 and doubles were $ 12. The bartender who served me was ever so kind as to put my double in an even larger glass so it wouldn’t spill as I made my way back through the crowds.
Other things to note: parking is free for this venue. The actual venue is also pretty far from the actual casino. If you were hoping for front row and the ability to gamble, you are kind of out of luck.
I’d come back but only for the right act.

I booked a group of 9 tickets for a bachelor party for my brother. I was told that I could pay for the tickets ahead of time or have everyone call in to pay. I took the liberty of paying for everyone up front. I found out that 1 person was unable to make it so I called in to request a refund for that ticket. The rep told me that tickets are not refundable. (Something i was not told on my initial call with them to book these tickets) I explained to her that I was not made aware of this situation and she continued to repeat herself. I let her know that I am a local business owner and was looking forward to booking many more shows with their company but would appreciate if she could look into what else they could do for this inconvenience. She explained to me her hands are tied and there was nothing she could do to help me. She went to grab a manager and the manager would not even get on the phone with me. I have done call coaching in call centers before and this would never be the way I would handle a first-​time customers’ experience. Terrible job informing the customer on the initial purchase and even worse job handling the issue on the 2^nd call. Needless to say, I’ll never be booking here again. I’d rather take the drive to Philly or NY.

I’ve read a lot of negative reviews regarding visibility and audio issues at the Sands Event Center. With that said… I am a pretty seasoned concert goer (well over 300), and I just went there for the first time this past week for Colbie Calliat and Christine Perri. Great show, great value. Nice Bar area.
Kim (in the ticket office) was amazing. Very personal and accommodating, you can tell she wants everyone to have a good experience. A+++
The floor was GA standing room only for this show. It is what it is (same as any other GA venue). I am 6’2″ and would not have a problem standing in GA. If your 5′ you may want to go to the outside walls or back to the sound board to get some space. With that said… your still going to be close.
If your sitting in the wings. The Left Wing is definitely better. The section is not wide as the Right Wing and there is no overhang. The Right Wing is wider (this is important to know as the further away you get from seat 1… the harder it is to see). The sound also is a little muffled because of the overhang of the suites above the Right Wing. Long story short if your going to sit in either wing, try to get seats 1−4…and the Left side is slightly better than the Right side.
The Suites and Luxury Seating above, while not overly plush definitely are worth the extra price. Especially in the first two rows (Row 1 is the best at ANY vantage point in this venue).
The sight lines are good from rows 1 and 2. Row 3 is pretty good, but you may get a head in front of you. Free beverages upstairs and waitress service. All good!
The acoustics are as good as the sound engineer for the touring bands. Its that simple. For the show I saw, the mix was very good. I walked the entire venue without any issues (other than the very slight muffle under the Right Wing overhang).
Overall, I recommend the venue. They get top acts in a smaller setting than usual, its a lot more convenient than you think (I drove from Philly) and Kim and the others in the Box office made the experience great. If you go to the show with this knowledge, you’ll have a great time.

Went to a concert here over a year ago, and was surprised by the extremely uncomfortable seating. So a friend wanted to see another band there, and I did a search and found that they still had the same crappy seating. Folding chairs. I kid you not. So I am NOT paying $ 55 to have back pain. Not worth it. Steelstacks is soooooo much better.

I attended a recent MMA event and have good opinions about the facility. The entrance is via a beautiful two-​floor bar lounge. Very clean and attractive. Walk through the doors into the auditorium and you’ll find a very clean facility. Most of the chairs don’t seem to have cushions but that’s no problem. They look ergonomic so your body won’t suffer during long sit-​downs. They are evenly spaced so you won’t feel crowded even if the place is at full capacity. Granted, this auditorium is not grand like Madison Square Garden but it’s more than presentable for most folks.

Besides a New Year’s Eve event last night was the first time I’d been for a show. My review is mostly based on the ticket purchasing process. I was so disappointed in how this venue runs their customer service. There was an ad in the paper for 50% off tickets (nowhere did it mention it was only select tickets). I called and they said Bob Saget was not included and would not be going on sale. I went ahead and purchased them on ticketmaster and a week before the show they went on sale for 50% off on Groupon. I called immediately and was told I needed to call ticketmaster for a solution. After getting the runaround on ticketmaster I called the venue back and talked to a manager. She said there was nothing at all they could do.
The venue itself isn’t wonderful at all (plastic chairs in a large room), but if there is someone there you want to see perform I guess you can decide to take the good with the bad. I would definitely beware of the changing ticket prices! Maybe they need to look at the reasons why they can’t sell out a show without reducing ticket prices as a last ditch effort!

No complaints. I don’t have much to compare to. We are not drinkers but it was pretty cool to have the entry to the event at the Vision bar serving food and drinks that can be brought into the show. (Not such a good idea when the couple behind of you teamed of onions) The ‘bad’ seats we got were pretty good. I’ve seen two comedy shows there and sat in the left wing and row 25 of right center. We snuck out a lil early because the area tends to get congested at the end of an event but I suppose that happens anywhere. My rating of a 5 is based on the fact that it was what I expected and I would go back. Had no incident.

This was my first time here and I loved it. We went and saw Chippendales perform and the venue was perfect. I loved how close the parking was, the seats were comfortable and the staff were nice. I didn’t drink at all (I was the DD) But everyone said the drinks were too small and over priced. I did notice that they had chickie and pete’s inside there, but I was in charge of watching the table.. . so I didn’t get to have any. I will definitly be back here!

I really enjoy everything about the Sands, and the event center is no exception. However — if you’re expecting stadium seating, or a great view from the floor, think again.
I’ve seen comedians and bands at this place, and I think it’s great. The size, the bar in a separate room, and the location all make it ideal. I’ll definitely be back.

The seating is horrible at this venue for concerts. I’ve attended about 5 – 7 concerts here and while the acts they attract are great, the seating is horrible. You can’t see unless you are right in front. The seating is flat. The stage is not high enough.
I’ve sat on the floor in the middle with heads obstructing my view. I’ve sat in right wing and more heads blocked my view. Plus the VIP section they added on top made the sound horrible since I can hear every conversation happening near me with that ceiling above me. On the leftwing, one of us was by the railing and can see everything find, the second seat in… another head obstructing the view.
It’s fine if you want to watch the video screen all night.
Staff is really nice and professional. But the seating is awful!!!

I wouldn’t waste money on seeing another show here. I’ve been to three and the sound is horrific. When you have concrete all about how can the sound do anything but bounce and echo? Add in folding metal chairs and you have a high school gymnasium. Just awful for the price of tickets.

Had a seat in one of the VIP areas. Great view of the stage. Seats were very uncomfortable.
Staff was very friendly and accommodating.
Beer wine and food was complimentary. Nice touch. Lounge area preshow was a nice area to mingle.

Went to see George Lopez at the sands event center. It was a good show the he put on but center was less desirable. As other people mention the seating were metal chairs and it uncomfortable and you can rub shoulders with the next person. If you were going to do folding chairs at least have cushion ones with more space. Yes, getting out from the show can be a nightmare with cars leaving in all directions. The act was fine though because we were laughing the whole night and didn’t really think about the chairs.

I think the Sands is trying for an industrial look at its events center but it is missing the mark entirely. The walls and floor are a uniform grey and there are a few sound baffling panels on the wall which are black, beyond that I can’t remember anything else in the space except for the black folding chairs. Yes that’s right, a permanent event venue with folding chairs! Ok, they’re not harsh metal but still not real seats.
The concert had a terrible audio engineer (really terrible!) so I can’t comment on the acoustics but just looking at the room I doubt even a talented professional could do much in this space.
That said, there’s plenty of free parking (don’t go to the casino parking rather enter through the shopping mall if you want the shortest walk) and the highways all around make it a very easy venue to get to.

We saw Blink 182 here this past september.
So we all know Blink is the best band ever, which blows my mind why they would play at this shitty venue.
Horrible acoustics, drunk people EVERYWHERE, rude staff.
My husband almost got in a fight with a guy who was completely wasted and kept stumbling into us. It was awful.
They really shouldn’t serve alcohol at a venue like this.

I visited this venue within 2 weeks of it opening, as I attended a Flogging Molly concert, but the venue wasn’t listed on Unilocal at the time. So my review is, oh, only a couple years late. Having said that…
Maybe it’s because I spent my teenage and college years going to some of the biggest dive music venues imaginable, but I *loved* this place. It was nice to finally have a classy place to see a concert.
Other reviews are right in regards to the ambience. Yes, it’s industrial-​looking at best, just lots and lots of concrete. But the floor was spacious… both wide and deep. I did a lot of walking to and from the bar over the course of the night, and it was nice to not have somebody’s elbow in my face the entire time.
There was no floor seating at this event, but there were raised sections along the left and right walls where you could sit. Those filled up quickly.
The sound, surprisingly maligned here in some of the other reviews I’ve read, was MARVELOUS. It was a perfect balance, with every instrument heard clearly and not a single one drowning out the other. It was loud, as you’d expect any concert to be, but not so loud that you were in pain at the end of the night.
I didn’t deal too much with the staff, but when we did, there were no complaints. There was a weird setup with the bathroom where you actually had to leave the venue to use one, then come back in by flashing your stamped hand.
As I was unfamiliar with the casino layout, my friend and I parked all the way on the other side of the casino and then had to walk through the casino to get to the music venue. Next time, we’ll know better.
When you first get into the venue, there’s a sprawling bar in front of you: Very modern, very flashy, really impressive. My only gripe is that the beer selection was horrid (and overpriced, but I’m used to that). I don’t think there was a single craft beer on the list.
To get from the bar area to the music venue portion of the club, you just had to step through some double-​doors (of which there were two sets) and then it was game-​on. The separated bar area was a nice change of pace from the drab décor of the music venue.
I docked a point for the décor and the lousy beer selection, but as far as the music and space goes, they really nailed it.
I’d definitely go back for the right act, and it’s a nice alternative to the city hustle and bustle I usually have to deal with when I go to Philly, D.C. or Baltimore.

The good: I had no problem seeing the band or hearing the band despite being halfway back from the stage. There are two screens flanking the stage to help you get a close up of your favorite rockstar. The staff was good about getting you in and settled quickly and the fact that it is in a casino makes for good pre and post event activities. Oh and plenty of bathrooms, so no long lines.
The bad: The folding chairs are not very comfortable. I feared that they would break under a heavier person’s weight. Maybe it was the chairs or maybe it was just the band itself, but I felt the set up of the room brought the energy down. If you stood up to dance to your favorite song, you were looked at like a jerk. So you were forced to sit. If I was the band, I would have rathered a standing room so that I could feed off the excitement of the crowd. Oh well, it was not my gig. Also not the prettiest place in the land, but it will do. The casino itself is nice.

Just an awful place to hear live music. The venue was designed to assure that it provides the worst sound possible. The only two good things is there’s free parking and no seat is too far form the stage. Highly unlikely I’ll ever go back.

The best thing about this venue is that the parking is free for concert/​event-​goers and that you don’t have to walk through the casino (i.e., spend money) to get to the theater. There are outside entrances that lead directly to the bar area.
For a small venue, I was pleased with the accommodations for over 21-​year-​olds. There is a huge bar/​lounge waiting area with a solid base of beers on tap (Magic Hat, Landshark, and Blue Moon are as sophisticated as it gets) and there is a bar within the arena for drinks during the show.
The entire place is very industrial and spartan. There aren’t any frills here, but I guess they were trying to keep in touch with the steel heritage of Bethlehem. The place is loud because of the concrete, so if you are going to see a show, go and see an arena rock band like Yes or Rush (I saw Yes on April 7^th and the show was amazing). The sound is great for a band like that. I was also happy with the seating, most of which has a good view of the stage. The floor doesn’t have stadium seating, which would probably get annoying for those sitting down there.
Overall: an A-​OK venue with good perks like free parking and a casino nearby, but with limited ambiance inside.